March Madness (Back from the UK!)

I'm back from the UK!

I feel like I'm always writing these "back from the dead!" posts on here, so I apologize. Between being on vacation and just generally going off plan for both food and exercise in the past few weeks (or really past two months if I'm 100% honest), I've pretty much been too embarrassed to blog about my healthiness journey. Mostly because then I'd have to either lie or talk about my unhealthy choices. I mean, I wasn't eating whole pizzas or eating whole tubs of ice cream, but also wasn't saying 'no' to pain au chocolat, baguette, or cheese. For example, here are a few foodie photos from vacation in the UK:

Fresh sweetmilk scones at Helen's

Yummy dessert at Bill's restaurant in Brighton

Trying what the UK calls a "flapjack" in London

Cupcakes (there were other people eating them too) from London's Hummingbird Bakery

That said, I had a great time on vacation, though towards the end (after 2 months of essentially being on a vacation from being on plan) I was starting to tell a difference with how I was feeling and how my clothes were fitting. SO, as glad as I am to have experienced all that the UK had to offer without guilt, I'm kicking it back into gear.

So far, I've been on-plan and tracking everything I eat since Sunday (4 days). I wanted to wait and mention it until I'd gotten a few days under my belt since I don't think I've successfully tracked 3 days together in all of 2011. I've also started back up with P90X to get my muscles back in shape since I could REALLY tell a difference from my abs in December and my abs last week, even if the scale wasn't showing a difference. Instead of gaining weight (which would have been the next step, I'm sure), all my hard won muscles from the end of last year had been replaced by fat, making my clothes tighter and me feel generally blah.

Another difference is that I've cancelled my subscription to WW eTools and am using Calorie Count instead. I've done this for a few reasons:

1. To see my nutrient breakdown. I plugged in Day One on Calorie Count just for kicks to see what my actual calories/nutrients were and saw that, while I thought I was right on target points wise, I was actually too low in a few different categories. I'm now going to work harder to get the right amount of nutrients and not just points.
2. To save money. I haven't been good about tracking or using my WW materials since I got to France really, so there's no point in adding to my US credit card bill if I'm not taking full advantage of the tools.
3. To try something new (maybe this will help?)
4. Lastly (and not part of this parallel structure), WW without meetings isn't as effective for me. I know a lot of people (like my good friend Amber) have had stunning success using just the online community and eTools, but after 2 years of meetings, WW just isn't the same without them.

As a result, I'm trying out CC, saving some money, and really just thinking of the next four months as suspending my WW membership rather than cancelling it. I fully intend to go back to my meetings as soon as I'm back home! I miss my leader!

So far, so good. I'm already feeling a lot better after 4 days. I'm focusing on limiting my carbs in the form of sugars and bread (to wean myself from pastry and baguette) and am trying to incorporate as many vegetables as possible. I really do think that coming back from the UK to a really sunshine-y and spring-y Avignon is helping with the motivation since I can already feel (and see) swimsuit seasons creeping up on us over here! Plus, spring weather mean more fresh veggies!

More soon! I'm off to drink a cup of night time tea (lately I never can sleep the night before school) and eat a square of 86% dark chocolate.

Weekly Check In (and p90x update!)

I've been doing better since Jared left, but not amazing. I've done P90X four times since Saturday. I missed out Monday since I was exhausted and had a huge headache after getting back from teaching... How DO real elementary school teachers survive? We learned about parts of the human body this week and I got my older kids involved by having them draw a monster (since almost ALL humans have 2 eyes, 2 legs, etc... It gets boring to talk about). Check out the guy and girl monsters done by my CM1 (5th grade) class:



So much fun! I get to do the same lessons again with my last school tomorrow, so it should be a good time. Then, on to Thanksgiving!

Anyway, back to P90X. I've done Core Synergistics, Cardio X, Ab Ripper X, and Yoga X so far and I'm really enjoying it. I'm really taking this week to get the hang of it, but starting the second time around, I think I'll need to pause the DVDs to get in some extra reps since doing what they have right now with only my 3kg hand weights isn't really getting me to feel the burn. Hopefully I'll be able to find a way to get over to Decathlon to buy a heavier set, but until then that'll do. I think one of the assistants (my British friend Sarah) is going to buy my 3kg set from me once I get the new ones. Woo!

So far, the yoga routine has been the most difficult and there are even a few moves I either cannot do at all or have a lot of difficulty with, there's definitely room for improvement, so I like it! Plus, I've been able to revel in that glorious post-workout soreness for a few days, so I'm feeling really good. Sadly, this means that my running has taken a cut, but it's been cold and windy here, and, honestly, I'm kind of hoping P90X will help me slim down a bit so that when I really get back in to running regularly there will be less that jiggles!

Other than that, I've just been trying to eat really healthy when I can. I made a batch of my favorite curried butternut squash soup tonight for my friends Rosie and Sarah. I had to cave and invest in more French fake tupperware to hold it as I think my roommate is getting a bit cross with me for using hers. Hopefully this'll ease the tension a bit! Rosie and Sarah thought the soup was a hit, but for some reason, it wasn't as good as I remembered. I think it has something to do with the squash not being as orange as usual? I don't know. I followed my old recipe (from memory) and I just checked and nothing was missing... Odd. Regardless, it'll help me stay within my points for the rest of the week, which is a must if I want to make at least 1 of my goals!

Sofar the points counts for the week are:
Saturday: 52 (This is why this week has been so difficult staying within WPs!)
Sunday: 22
Monday: 29 (Surprise Chile Con Carne at school for lunch... wasn't planning on eating with them, but I got there early!)
Tuesday: 22
Wednesday: 35.5
Currently, that puts me at -5.5 after using all 10 of my APs I've earned so far, but if I'm good and get in a few more workouts (as already planned), I can end the week with 4 days within my DP allowance AND out of the red, so here it goes! I'm not too proud of the points count so far, but I am proud of the fact that I 'fessed up and tracked it all anyways instead of writing this week off as a loss from the get-go!

In the end, today's been a fabulous day spent doing yoga, checking out a local gym (sadly I think 33€/month is too rich for my poor assistant blood), cooking, and hanging out with friends. See? Here we are at the grocery below my apartment picking up last minute ingredients for dinner:

Bread... my biggest vice. Oh 80 cent authentic French baguette, I love thee...
That's all for now, sorry the post was so sporadic!